


Little Town Blues

by overshadows



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 02:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5610604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overshadows/pseuds/overshadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Foggy had begged Matt to come with him to visit his family to celebrate the new year. Karen had accepted his invitation and he wanted Matt to come along as well.</p>
<p>However, Matt feels very strongly that everyone needs to set a day aside to do nothing but feel sorry for themselves with only the company of alcohol. <i>A lot of alcohol.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Town Blues

 

All he wanted was to be alone. Foggy, of course, had begged Matt to come with him to visit his family to celebrate the new year. Karen had accepted his invitation and he wanted Matt to come along as well. He made up some lie about having plans with a girl he met and despite his disappointment, Foggy wasn't one to cockblock his best friend. Matt was lucky that Foggy didn't have enhanced abilities or else he would have seen right through his lies.

He feels very strongly that everyone needs to set a day aside to do nothing but feel sorry for themselves with only the company of alcohol. A lot of alcohol.Matt spends most of the day in his pajamas, sleeping and drinking. By the time the sun begins setting, he's lying on his couch with a half empty beer in his hand. Matt digs in the pocket of his sweatpants with his free hand and fishes out his phone. Before he can come to his senses, he speaks. "Call Claire." 

The line trills a few times, then her voice comes through. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm home." His voice is softer than usual, if a little slurred.

Claire sighs and relaxes. "Every time you call, I always expect you to be half dead."

He snorts. "Sorry. Not tonight."

She gets back into her comfortable position in bed, bringing her glass of wine up to her lips. "So what's going on? What do you need?"

"Just a quick chat. I was hoping you'd still be in town."

" _Oh,_ " she practically purrs, "you were just _hoping_ I'd be home on a holiday? You spying on me or something?"

Matt fails to suppress a drunk giggle. "No, I wouldn't. I just..." he gestures vaguely as if she can see him, as if that's a good replacement for the words that he can't think of in that moment.

"I'm actually off work tonight. Guess you're in luck, hellboy," Claire says, balancing her phone between her face and her shoulder, and throwing the blanket off herself.

Matt frowns at that remark. "That's a completely dif-"

"I'll be right over. We'll discuss the differences later." She hangs up and he drains the rest of his beer.

The streets are congested enough to slow Claire down, giving Matt time to sober up enough to realize he should be embarrassed to have made that phone call. He considers calling her back to tell her not to bother, to just stay home. Matt even picks up the phone but doesn't call her. The wheels are already in motion and he isn't going to stop this train.

She doesn't bother knocking and simply lets herself in with the spare key he gave her a while back. Matt doesn't panic because he can smell her perfume as soon as she enters the building. It's strong, but not unpleasant in the least. It signals in his mind: Claire, home, warmth.

"Wow, okay. Um, I see you've been busy," she says as she sees the number of beer bottles on almost every surface of his apartment.

He smiles. "It's been a very productive day."

She sets her things down on the kitchen counter and rummages under the sink, pulling out a large garbage bag. Claire goes around picking up everything that needs to be tossed out and finds a sandwich wrapper. "At least you have some food in you. The hangover is gonna kill you tomorrow."

"I'll be okay," he says and smiles. It may just be her making conversation, but a part of him likes that she's concerned about his well being.

"So you've just been here all day? Drinking alone?"

"Pretty much," he says and joins her in cleaning up his place.

"You could have at least called me earlier. A girl loves a cold beer every now and then."

The alcohol still in his system shuts off his filter and makes things come out a bit sharper than he intended. "It kind of ruins the whole 'drinking alone' thing."

She turns to face him, "If you wanted to be alone, why did you call me, then?"

Matt shrugs, "It got old." He sighs, "I suppose there's a fine line between 'alone' and 'lonely'."

Claire turns back to the task at hand and continues, "Why not call Foggy? He's your best friend."

"He's with his family in Connecticut. I didn't want to bother him."

She laughs, feigning offense. "Oh, so fuck me, right? It's okay to bother me?"

Matt laughs as well, he's obviously digging himself into a deep hole. "That's not what I meant."

"I know that. I just like to see you sweat." She ties up the garbage bag, tossing it aside and puts her hands on her hips. "So, what do we do now?"

Matt shrugs, "There's an unopened bottle of wine in the fridge."

 

They sit in the dark listening to Matt's records; some are old, some new. Claire is partial to the old ones. Matt likes pointing out the ones that belonged to his father. He seems so happy when telling her about how he used to spend his summers lying on the floor of their old apartment listening to music.

She changes the subject, not wanting to bring up bad memories and instead points out how loud everyone is being.

"People love ringing in the new year. Plus, it's an excuse to start drinking early," he tells her, gesturing towards his own drink.

The record ends and Claire stands up; Matt misses her warmth straight away. He can hear her feet shuffling over to the record player, fingers passing over his large collection. She pulls one out at random and is quite delighted to have picked Ella Fitzgerald.

They drink in silence, just enjoying each other's company until Ella stops singing.

"What now? I don't suppose you've got more wine," Claire says as she finishes the rest of what's in her cup.

"All out," he replies and rubs his tired eyes.

Claire lets out a long sigh and looks around his apartment. Not much to do in the sense of entertainment. "We could go to Times Square."

Matt winces, "Times Square? It's probably a mob scene down there."

She shrugs then says, "I just shrugged, by the way." He smiles then thanks her for letting him know. "Being out there beats being in here. Plus, it's something everyone should do at least once in their life, right?"

He wasn't very fond of the idea of being in Times Square during New Years Eve, but it was Claire's suggestion and he doesn't want to say no to her.

The trek to Times Square normally takes thirty minutes, give or take. It takes them over an hour to get to their destination, though at least fifteen minutes were spent by Claire taking pictures to send to her mom.

In order to have a really good view of the ball, you have to get there early in the day. Claire can't even see the ball from where they are, but it doesn't matter. Everyone is abuzz (and buzzed) that their good mood is practically contagious.

"This is better than being comfortable in my apartment?" He asks her while fixing his scarf, wishing he had worn something more appropriate for the thirty-five degree weather.

She nudges him with her shoulder. "Don't pretend you weren't bored in there!"

People pass them by, some with poorly concealed alcoholic beverages, and they're both given more novelty hats and sunglasses that they know what to do with. Matt passes on those and gives his to Claire instead.

"I look really good, just so you know," she says with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, I bet."

The countdown begins and Claire almost jumps out of her skin. "It's seriously midnight already?" She says looking at her watch.

_**"Ten... Nine... Eight..."** _

She squeezes in close and holds his hand.

_**"Seven... Six... Five..."** _

"I'm glad you took the night off!" She yells into his ear. "I'm really having fun!"

_**"Four... Three... Two..."** _

"I am too," he grins.

_**"One..."** _

The entire crowd erupts into wild cheers and everyone around them begins kissing. Claire pulls Matt into a tight hug, which he melts into. There's something about her that feels right. Being in her arms just feels right.

Once she lets him go, the cold air feels like daggers in his chest. Claire laughs and throws her hands up. "Oh, what the hell. Once to celebrate the new year?" She says and doesn't give him enough time to say a single word. Before he realizes what's happening, Claire is kissing him. He's surprised, but not mad at her.

The kiss is chaste, just a press of lips against lips, but it ignites a spark inside him that he foolishly thought he had successfully smothered.

When she pulls away, he's breathless. Just like before, he doesn't think before he speaks. Though this time, he can't blame the alcohol. "We're in a different place now than we were before. Let's make a real go of it now that it's the new year and all." He can hear her heartbeat speed up even over all the noise in Times Square.

"Hmm," she says and bites her lip. "I don't know, Matt."

His courage deflates and the smile on his face withers away.

"Hey," she says softly and reaches up to touch his face, her thumb caressing a fading bruise on his cheek. "You didn't let me finish." Claire kisses him again, but it's different this time. There's more force behind it and she's up against him in a way that they're touching from chest to thighs. When they break apart, she continues. "I was going to say, I don't know." She kisses him once more, her teeth capturing his lower lip between them. "I think I might need some more convincing... if you catch my drift."

Matt shrugs, "Well, now I don't know. Do you have one of those nurse costumes that could get things started?"

She rolls her eyes and smirks, "I've got dirty scrubs in my hamper, if that's what you mean." Claire laughs and kisses him again. "Come on, then, Flash. Let's go back home." Claire holds his hand, pulling him away from the crowd.

"Yeah, for starters, I'm thinking you need a proper lesson on superheroes."


End file.
